Followers.

The requirement in the Building Regulations for the conservation of fuel and power for dwellings alone is that the person carrying out building work of creating a new dwelling shall calculate the energy rating of the dwelling by a standard assessment procedure (SAP) and give notice of that rating to the local authority.

The SAP rating is based on an energy cost factor on a scale of 1 to 100, 1 being a maximum and 100 a minimum energy use to maintain a comfortable internal temperature and use of energy in water heating. While there is no obligation to achieve a particular rating, a rating of 60 or less indicates that there is inadequate insulation or inefficient heating systems or both, and the dwelling does not comply with the regulations.

Details of the notification of the SAP rating for new dwellings are held by the local authority. A prospective purchaser of the dwelling may well be put off where the rating is 60 or less and the local authority has not issued a Certificate of Compliance with the Regulations, whereas the purchaser will be encouraged by a rating of say 85, which shows compliance with the Regulations.

The SAP rating is calculated by the completion of a four page worksheet by reference to 14 tables. The sequential completion of up to 99 entries by reference to the 14 tables is so tedious and difficult to follow as to confound all but those initiated in their use, and is hardly calculated to inform householders in a way that is simple and easy to understand as claimed by the authors of Approval Document L.